Franklin: Dean College welcomes world-renowned dancer as guest artist

Wednesday

Aug 20, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By Matt TotaDaily News Staff

FRANKLIN — Dance majors at Dean College this year will have the opportunity to learn from a master of the craft, a man who created his own technique and who has been called one of the top four tap dancers in the world.

William Evans, known internationally as a successful author and choreographer, joins the college beginning this semester as an artist-in-residence who will teach and advise students of Dean’s Palladino School of Dance.

Evans, 73, founded his own dance company in 1975 in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has choreographed more than 200 works. The company has performed in all 50 states.

From 1988 to 2004, he taught at the University of New Mexico. He would go on to join the College at Brockport in New York as a guest artist and undergraduate program director.

Dean's faculty and students will benefit from Evans’ experience, noted Julianne Pedersen, dean of the Palladino School of Dance.

"He has created his own language – his own way of training dancers," Pedersen said, adding, "This is like the business program bringing in Bill Gates."

The college’s dance program is "vibrant," she said, with 180 students enrolled.

Evans will teach a technique class, a choreography course and a tap class. He’ll also perform with students.

"These students will learn from someone who has run a dance company for more than 30 years," Pedersen said.

In 2010, Evans told Dance Magazine that, for him, "dance is primarily an activity of the human spirit.

"Making dances and sharing them is a demanding but uplifting process," he said. "I find it wholly positive and life-affirming."